Becky said, “It’s a good thing we’re prepared for war. It’ll be good in case they don’t accept our proposal.”
Jordan asked Becky, “How prepared are we?”
Becky said, “We have two assault rifles, plus one handgun for every member of the colony. I’ve made twenty million bullets, although they’re steel. We don’t have very much lead available.”
Jordan said, “That’s good, though. Lead’s poisonous anyway. If they use it, it’ll contaminate our water. Do we have ships, planes, and tanks?”
Becky replied, “We’ve got sixty tanks, five dozen planes, and thirty-two space pods.”
Jordan said, “That doesn’t seem like very much.”
Becky said, “I’ve got more shells that aren’t ready yet, and molds that just need metal. We’ll recycle equipment if the ships or guns get destroyed in battle.”
Jordan said, “So we’re ready to go to war if need be.”
John said, “Of course we are. Becky has us prepared.”
Becky said, “Quit kissing my ass. It’s not going to get you anywhere.”
John said, “Sorry about that. I was just trying to earn points.”
Becky said, “You’ve already got ‘em. I’m not going anywhere.”
Jordan said, “The two of you are making me sick. Can we please stop with all the lovey-dovey stuff and get on with our official business?”
Kathy said, “It’s not their fault you’re alone and miserable. Let them be.”
Jordan started to snap at Kathy, but thought better of it when Scout shot an evil eye in his direction. Bob and Cindy had seen this many times in the past. Every time someone brought up Jordan’s relationship status, he lost control of his emotions. They, along with everyone else, had no idea why this happened.
Jordan said, “Sorry,” through his teeth. He continued, “Can we get back to business?”
Scout agreed, “Yes, let’s get back to the business at hand. Kathy, have you sent the declaration?”
Kathy answered, “Yes. We won’t know anything for at least twenty minutes, though. There’s the delay from light speed and they need some time to make up their minds.”
Notah asked, “So you think they’ll make up their minds in four or five minutes?”
Kathy replied, “Probably not. That’s just the soonest we’ll hear back from anyone. It’s more likely to take at least a day or two to get a response.”
Jordan said, “Yeah, your boss probably needs time to debate how to kill us.”
Notah started crying when Jordan snapped at him. He thought he had convinced the group that he was on their side.
Scout said, “Jordan, I’m getting tired of your attitude toward both Kathy and Notah. If you have a problem with the people here, maybe you shouldn’t be here.”
The room got eerily quiet, but Jordan couldn’t hold his peace any longer. He didn’t trust Notah, and needed to let everyone know it.
Jordan replied, “I know Notah’s working against us.”
Scout said, “I trust him. If you don’t, you need to keep that to yourself. I’m not going to have infighting and silly feuds tearing us apart.”
Jordan said, “I’m never going to trust him like you do. Something about him rubs me the wrong way. I just know he’s working against us.”
Scout said, “We’re all equal. That means everyone is worthy of trust until they’re proven untrustworthy. None of that explains why you have such contempt for Kathy. She’s been nothing but good to you.”
Jordan said, “I don’t like how she treats you. She expects you to drop everything when she needs you, but she won’t do the same when you need her.”
Scout asked, “How’s that any of your business?”
Jordan answered, “Because you’re all I have left. I’ve put all my proverbial eggs in your basket.”
Everyone wondered what he meant. He had the whole colony, just like everyone else.
Scout said, “Then bear in mind that we’re all equal here. Failure to do so may jeopardize your standing in the group.”
Jordan said, “Sorry, Scout. We’re all equal here. I know that.”
Scout asked, “Who wants to volunteer to stay here and wait for the response?”
Notah raised his hand and started to say, “I’ll do…”
Jordan interrupted, “Oh, hell no! There’s no way in hell I’m going to allow Notah to be the one to relay any messages to or from us.”
Scout said, “What did I just get done telling you? I’ve told all of you I trust Notah. Jordan, if it bothers you so much, you can join him and wait for the official reply from Earth.”
Jordan said, “Fine.”
Scout said, “Don’t forget I have cameras in here. If either one of you gets out of line, you’ll have to deal with me. You won’t like it.”
Notah said, “Understood, sir.”
Jordan said, “Yes, sir.”
Everyone except Jordan and Notah left the office and went about their business. Jordan didn’t dare leave Notah alone with sensitive information about the colony and a way to communicate with General Rich. Jordan knew Notah was working to betray the colony. He just couldn’t prove it.
Chapter Fifteen
Response
General Rich intercepted the communication from the Martian colony. He was expecting something more grandiose than a simple email, but that’s what he had in front of him. He immediately called his operative into the office.
Rich said, “The Martian people declared independence. I told you this day was coming. It’s even ahead of schedule.”
The Operative said, “There’s nothing we can do about it until the governments receive their copies and decide what they want to do. DeNoPE isn’t omnipotent yet.”
Rich said, “They’ll declare war. I already know the outcome of this scenario. They’re going to get pissed and scared. The corporations will demand justice and restitution. There will be blood.”
The Operative said, “When did you become an expert on the future? I didn’t know you were psychic.”
Rich said, “I’m not psychic. I just know how this will end. There’s no way the governments will allow these dirty, tree-hugging hippies to have independence. Too many people have too much invested in Mars. I see a war coming. It’ll just be a short skirmish, but it’ll be a war nonetheless.”
The Operative said, “Then it’s a good thing we built the lunar base to train soldiers for a war in space.”
Rich said, “I want you to start gathering men to begin training. The war is pretty much imminent.”
The Operative said, “Will do.
***
The president of the United States received the declaration from the Martian colony. It was forwarded to him from NASA’s research oversight committee, who got it from Rich. As he read the document, his face grew red and he became very angry. When he finished reading it, he forwarded it to the other heads of DeNoPE. Each leader received a copy and reported to General Rich.
Within minutes, heads of state and corporate chairs were demanding that Scout and his group be brought back to Earth to face a criminal trial. The president needed to make a decision. He considered asking congress for a declaration of war, but he didn’t have decades to wait for debates. He decided to use his executive authority to deploy the military to extradite the Martian group.
He called General Rich, “This is the President. I hereby order you to take a battalion of men and go to Mars to extradite Scout Ellison’s group.”
General Rich didn’t want the President to know that he had advance knowledge of the Martian plan. That would lead to uncomfortable questions about the authority of DeNoPE. It was supposed to be a simple consortium of leadership, not a source of power.
He replied, “What seems to be the trouble?”
The President said, “The Martian Research Corporation has declared independence from Earth. They’ve also claimed the whole planet for themselves. Too many companies will lose assets if this is allowed, so I need you
to bring them back to Earth.”
Rich asked, “Is this just an arrest mission?”
The President replied, “That would be my preference, but it may not be that easy. Use whatever force is necessary.”
Rich asked, “Do I need to restrict myself to North American troops, or can I ask our allies for assistance?”
The President replied, “You have full access to all allied resources. Any nation that’s a member of DeNoPE will be willing to send you assistance.”
Rich said, “Understood. They’ll be brought to justice.”
The President said, “They’d better be.”
***
Jordan sat with Notah. Jordan stared at Notah with contempt. He wanted to accuse Notah of sabotage, but Scout forbade it before he left them alone.
Notah said, “Why is it you don’t trust me?”
Jordan replied, “Because you’re a filthy rat, and you’re working for General Rich.”
Notah said, “What makes you think I even know him?”
Jordan said, “Don’t play the fool with me. I was running counterintelligence before you were born.”
Notah said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Notah knew full well what Jordan was talking about, because he was on Rich’s payroll. He didn’t dare confirm Jordan’s suspicions. That would lead to certain failure.
Jordan said, “I intercepted some of your messages with that asshole. I know you’re feeding him information.”
Notah said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Besides, Scout trusts me.”
Jordan said, “I can’t imagine why.”
Notah said, “I’m not at liberty to say, but he has very good reason to trust me.”
The more time passed, the more tense the situation in the room became. Jordan had a raging contempt for Notah, and Notah had an intense fear of Jordan. If Scout had not intervened, Jordan definitely would have kicked Notah’s ass.
Jordan said, “I wish they’d respond already. This situation is making me tense.”
Notah thought, “You can’t possibly be as tense as I am right now. No one’s threatening your well-being.”
***
The Operative assembled a team. They began training on the moon a few days later. Most of the team were the same people who built the base, because they were already familiar with it. Captains Fortner and Richter were assigned companies. However, there were some new people assigned to the mission.
The Operative asked, “Fortner, I understand you’re the one who built this base?”
Fortner replied, “I had a good crew. I just followed instructions and made sure they followed orders.”
The Operative said, “That’s what makes a good leader. I’m giving you another field promotion to Major.”
Richter said, “I was his mentor on the project.”
The Operative said, “Stop kissing ass. Next time, I’ll bust you to Second Lieutenant.”
Richter said, “Yes, sir. Sorry, sir.”
The Operative said, “I want the two of you to have the crew familiar with this base in less than two days. Then we’ll start training for war.”
Fortner said, “Yes, sir.”
Major Fortner and Captain Richter took the crew to the lunar base the first day. They got settled the first night. The next day, they got a full tour of the base and learned how to use all the amenities. The third day, they started training.
General Rich gathered intelligence on the Martian group while his subordinates were familiarizing themselves with the base on the moon.
He ordered, “I want all communication and satellite signals to Mars turned off. Kill their internet access while you’re at it.”
A subordinate said, “Yes, sir.”
Rich said, “I want it off within the hour.”
The subordinate said, “That shouldn’t be a problem.”
The internet, television and radio signals were jammed forty-five minutes later.
The President spent the day assuring every corporate head or head of state who called him that Scout would be brought to justice.
The CEO of XXXXXXXXXXXXXX called him and said, “We stand to lose billions, if not trillions if we lose our Martian lands.”
The President said, “But you’re not even using them right now.”
The CEO replied, “We have grand plans for those lands. There’s resources we need, and we don’t want to lose them.”
The President said, “Don’t worry. We’ll bring them to justice. They’ll be held accountable.”
The CEO said, “What about our property?”
The President said, “It’ll be returned to you once the criminals are apprehended.”
The President had complete confidence in General Rich and his leadership. He didn’t know how powerful DeNoPE was, though.
Once Rich had official approval from the heads of DeNoPE, he sent the Martians a demand email. He was very forceful in his words.
Notah and Jordan received the response from Earth and informed Scout that they were ordered to stand down and surrender to the authorities when they arrived. They were also ordered to return to Earth without resistance.
Scout expected that, but he did not intend to return to Earth. He intended to win independence for his followers. He intended to achieve his dream of freedom.
Scout thought, “If they want me to go back to Earth, they’ll have to take me back in a body bag. There’s no way I’m giving in to them. They’d better be ready for one hell of a fight.”
Scout sat at his desk and typed an email.
It said, “NO!”
When he finished typing, he slammed the keyboard with his fist. The email was sent.
Chapter Sixteen
Zero Gravity Training
While The Operative gathered his crew and headed to the moon base, General Rich gathered another crew to begin training for a ground war. The General expected to have an army on the ground on Mars to fight Scout’s group. The Operative thought his mission was more important. The initial battles would be in space and both groups would be in space when they went to confront the Martians.
The Operative said, “We’re going to train you to deal with a zero gravity environment. We’ll be acclimating our bodies to the weightlessness of space. It’s going to be disconcerting at first, but you’ll adjust. It’s imperative that we prepare for our mission as soon as possible, so don’t be surprised if we push you to move faster.”
One of the men asked, “What if we can’t hang?”
The Operative replied, “Then you won’t make it onto the team. Remember that there’s a bonus for anyone who takes on this combat mission. Some generous corporate partners have agreed to reward any soldiers that ensure their success.”
Another man asked, “So what might go wrong? Why do we have to train in space?”
The Operative answered, “For one, you might die. We need to be prepared to respond to a loss of life support systems in space. We also need to know how our bodies will respond to lower gravity. There are a lot of things that might go wrong once we get to Mars. We need to be prepared to respond to adversity.”
The crew understood and rested in their seats as the ship flew around the base. Most of them spent the next few hours listening to music or praying to calm themselves. The Operative observed his crew as the ship flew to simulate a long voyage through space. Most of his crew adjusted easily, especially the ones who worked on the base’s construction.
General Rich spent the same time gathering a crew of soldiers for a land battle with Scout’s group. He met them on an obstacle course for conditioning and agility training. The General had them running on the course for ten hours without food or water before allowing them to take a one-hour lunch break. Then he worked them for another six hours until bedtime.
The ship landed on the moon as General Rich’s people went to bed. The Operative’s team was tired from the journey, but they were ordered to inspect the ship before they went to bed. They in
spected the ship and made some minor repairs. By the time they finished, most of them were exhausted.
Richter said, “I know you’re all tired, but we can’t afford to let our guard down for a minute. When we get to Mars, we’ll need to be alert in case something goes wrong.”
The Operative added, “We’re going to let you go to sleep, but not for very long. You have to be able to be alert on a moment’s notice. So we’re going to wake you up before the Earth comes up.”
They went to bed and slept for the next five hours. They were tired, but they didn’t dare let themselves fall into the deep, restful sleep they wanted.
Reveille is the traditional wake up call for soldiers. It is a bugle playing a tune that was first used during the American civil war to alert soldiers that it was morning. The Operative played this tune on his trumpet because bugles were nearly impossible to find. He could have used a horn or trombone. Any brass instrument gives a true rendition to the reveille.
The troops woke up and headed to the mess hall for breakfast. They found M.R.E.’s on the tables and drinks in pouches. The tables had magnets and the packets were metallic to keep them on the table, so the crew had a little bit of trouble pulling them off the tables.
Richter said, “On your tables you’ll find the kind of food you’ll have when we go to Mars. You’ll notice they’re magnetized. There’s no gravity in space, so they’ll need to be secured.”
A sergeant asked, “Isn’t there gravity here, though? I don’t see anyone floating through the hall.”
Richter replied, “Yes, we have one-sixth the gravity of Earth, but we want to get you used to space travel.”
The sergeant said, “But there’s even more gravity on Mars than here.”
Richter said, “We probably won’t be on the surface very long, though. The mission is to apprehend the fugitives and bring them back to Earth.”
Fortner said, “That’s why we want to get you used to zero gravity. You’ll be on a ship for the majority of the mission. We’ll have some artificial gravity, but that technology’s still relatively new.”
MARS: Baroque Revolution Page 7